SaaS stands for “software-as-a-service” meaning that a software solution is sold to users as a service which the user effectively rents. Because SaaS solutions are becoming broadly available across so many discplines, this style of software compared to non-saas software is best explained via an example. Remember the days when you installed Microsoft Word by inserting a CD into your computer and waiting while it whirred away to put files onto your computer and checked your license key? You paid for that software once, installed it, and were able to use that without further charge until you decided you really needed the latest version and had to pay for the upgraded version, and go through the process again.

When software is provided as a service, you don’t install it, instead you login via a web address and use it, against your own information that you import into the solution. You pay for how much you are using the software, and can generally cancel your subscription, and therefore stop paying, at anytime. Usually you automatically get all updates to the solution without needing to lift a finger.

Mobile Apps which you can download from iTunes or Google Play Store may or may not be SaaS platforms, depending on whether the app you are using is connecting to the online solution, or just operating separately on your own device.